Henry Horenstein


Henry Horenstein is an American artist/photographer. He studied history at the University of Chicago and earned his BFA and MFA at Rhode Island School of Design, where he is now professor of photography. He has worked as a professional photographer, teacher, and author since the early 1970s. A student of photographers/teachers Harry Callahan, Aaron Siskind, and Minor White, Horenstein is the author of over 30 books, including a series of instructional textbooks that have been used by hundreds of thousands of photography students over the past 40 years.
In 2003, Chronicle Books published Honky Tonk: Portraits of Country Music, Horenstein's documentary survey of country music during the late 1970s and early 1980s. W. W. Norton & Company published a revised edition in 2013. Honky Tonk has also been presented as an exhibition at many public and private museums and galleries, notably the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in 2006, the Rhode Island School of Design Museum in 2005, and The Annenberg Space for Photography in 2014. Among other museums holding a collection of Horenstein's work are the J. Paul Getty Museum, the High Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Center for Creative Photography, the San Antonio Museum of Art, the Cincinnati Museum of Art, and the Henry Art Gallery. Duke University's David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library holds a significant collection of Horenstein's work, as does the Smithsonian Museum of American History.
In recent years, Horenstein has been working on short documentary films. His Spoke, a celebration of the legendary Austin, Texas, dance hall, the Broken Spoke, was funded by The Annenberg Space for Photography and screened at the Austin Film Festival and many other venues. Horenstein's other films include Murray, with William A. Anderson and Hillary Spera and Partners, which premiered in May 2018 at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts and has been touring internationally. His latest effort currently in post-production is called Blitto Underground and was filmed in Buenos Aires.
Horenstein lives in Boston. His work is represented by Clampart, New York; Catherine Couturier Gallery, Houston; Paul Paletti Gallery, Louisville; and Elliott Halls, Amsterdam. He is one of RISD's Notable Alumni List of Rhode Island School of Design people.

Publications